


Beginnings

by jacquelee



Series: Arrow / Mistresses / Legends of Tomorrow Crossover AU [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Mistresses (US TV)
Genre: Gen, Mentions of Violence, Mentions of addiction, Mentions of kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 10:29:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15508065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee
Summary: Joss wants revenge on the man who killed Marisol and follows him all the way to Star City even though her friends from the self defense class can't accompany her and tell her that it's not worth it. But Joss goes anyways and confronts him, only to end up with his gun in her hands, ready to kill him. At the last moment, she realizes what she is doing and stops herself. Running away and ending up having a breakdown in an alley, she is approached by a woman in black with a mask she recognizes as the legendary Black Canary.Mistresses / Arrow crossover AU





	Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> This fic started with me watching Mistresses for Jes Macallen because I love her in Legends of Tomorrow and wanted to see more of her. I ended up loving Joss and with her arc in season four, I immediately thought she needs to meet Laurel. Like, right now. They are so similar and could help each other in so many ways.
> 
> I tossed around some ideas, mostly involving Sara, seeing that Joss looks exactly like Ava which makes for an interesting story, especially with the clone angle, but in the end I decided to put that on the back burner in favor of having a relationship between Joss and Laurel. Time wise I just took the actual time Mistresses aired, which was 2016, so end of season four for Arrow and before the last three episodes (and AU from there) for Mistresses.
> 
> Obviously, Laurel didn't die. I never watched Arrow past Sara's departure in season four, so none of the things that happen in the show will make an appearance in this fic (mainly the new characters won't). But Arrow plot isn't really important here anyways, just Laurel being the Black Canary and Thea owning Verdant (I tried to google if she still does but it seems to be contested, so if she doesn't this is another AU aspect).

It had been a quiet night so far. Ollie and Dig were patrolling other parts of the city while Thea had taken the night off to take care of some things in Verdant. None of them had anything to report so far, and Laurel was debating whether to call it a night or not when she heard yelling somewhere near her. Thinking to herself that one quiet night was too much to ask, she took off in that direction. 

When she got there, she saw a woman pointing a gun at a man who was lying on the ground, yelling at him. Not knowing the situation Laurel moved towards the woman, intent on disarming her, but before she could intervene the woman stepped back, looking shocked and disgusted with herself, threw the gun into the gutter and ran off. 

The man got up and cursed after her, spouting threats. Other than a few bruises, mainly to his ego, he seemed to be alright, so Laurel decided to go after the woman, hoping to make sure that she wouldn't hurt either herself or anyone else. When she caught up with her in an alley, where she had collapsed to the ground, clearly crying, Laurel saw her taking a handful of pills out of a bottle and throwing them into her mouth. 

Painful flashbacks of when she was in that same situation ran through her head. She had no idea what exactly was going on here, but clearly this was not a criminal, at least not in the sense of the ones she usually dealt with, and she couldn't just turn her back on someone who clearly had problems she tried to solve in ways Laurel was far too familiar with. Ways that could only end badly. 

Deciding on a direct approach, she stepped closer to the woman. 

"It takes the edge off, doesn't it?" The woman looked up, surprised, taking a defensive stance immediately but relaxing slightly when she saw Laurel. "But it never actually helps. I know, I've been there."

Now the woman scoffed, but didn't move away or stop Laurel from sitting down besides her. 

"You're the Black Canary. You're a hero. You're all I hoped I could be." She gestured with her hand, scoffing again. "How could you understand feeling...?"

She trailed off, letting out a sob. 

For some reason, Laurel felt like she had some connection to this woman, a woman she knew nothing about other than that she beat up a man and pointed a gun at him. Which theoretically should mean Laurel should take her to the police and not try to help her but then again, she had done the same thing. Twice. And she understood far too well, so instead of taking her in, she finished her sentence.

"Helpless? Powerless? Afraid? As if every single second you exist is agony and the only thing you can do is numb the pain just to get through the day?" The woman was still crying silently, but now she looked at Laurel with surprise in her eyes. Laurel smiled a little. "Believe me, I know. Like I said, I've been there."

The woman shook her head. 

"How could you understand? How could anyone understand? I am so afraid. All the time. I tried to get stronger, to take back control, but I can't. He took it away from me. He took everything and I can't even talk about it. I don't know how."

For a moment, she just cried, as if saying those things alone had taken far too much out of her. Laurel didn't really know what to do but it was clear that this woman needed someone to talk to. Someone who could understand. She started talking quietly, trying to put all her own trauma and awful experiences into words.

"I do understand. I was kidnapped by a serial killer once. He was going to kill me. I couldn't do anything, I couldn't even move. I thought I was going to die. I was sure of it. I was helpless, and I was so afraid. The Arrow saved me, but after that, I couldn't just go on. I spiraled down into a dark place, feeling hopeless and scared all the time. I took pills and drank far too much, just to numb the pain. But it didn't help. Not really." 

The woman was looking at her now, a pain in her eyes Laurel knew all too well. When she spoke it was barely more than a whisper. 

"What did help? What did you do?"

"A friend told me that I still had the power to make things right, no matter how many bad things happened to me. There was still things that were under my control. And that I could either just give up, feel sorry for myself and get another drink, or pick myself back up and start working on the things that I could influence." Laurel scoffed, remembering that moment. "He wasn't particularly nice about it either. I hated him for saying those things to me at first, but then I realized that he was right. I needed to concentrate on the things that I could do, that were still good in my life. And I did." 

"I don't know how to do that. I tried, I tried to go on, I tried to be strong, but I just can't. Every time I try to live my life as I did, to stop feeling so afraid all the time, that night just comes back and I'm back in that place." The look she gave Laurel, was desperate, almost pleading. "I don't want to go back there anymore. I don't know how to stop it."

Laurel smiled sadly.

"I don't know either, not really. It takes time. The memories fade, the fear gets less. I know it doesn't feel like that, I know everything seems hopeless, but it will get better. I started going to AA meetings, talking about my life, what had happened to me. It helped. At least a little."

"I tried. There's this group of women, and they tried to help me. But I couldn't talk about it. I just didn't know how. They were all siting there and expecting me to talk and I know they would understand, they would help me, but I just couldn't." She put her head in her hands, seemingly lost in her thoughts. Laurel didn't know if she should say more when she started talking again, so quietly that Laurel nearly couldn't hear her. "I hate him. I hate him for what he did to me. He hurt me and I couldn't even move. I couldn't do anything. I felt so alone."

She was sobbing now, and Laurel put a hand on her shoulder tentatively, not wanting to spook her. 

"You are not there. You are not alone. Not anymore. It's over." The woman looked at her, pain still on her face, but also something else. Something like surprise. Laurel smiled at her, her hand still on her shoulder, her other hand moving into a hug she didn't know if she should give, but before she could even decide whether or not to hug her, the woman had moved towards her on her own, clinging onto her, crying. Laurel hugged her back, trying to sooth her. "It's okay. It's going to be okay."

They stayed like that for what seemed like a long while, the woman calming down slowly. Eventually, she let go and Laurel retreated a little, still staying close, smiling. 

"God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay. I mean it. Like I said, I understand." Looking at the woman who was now wiping the tears from her face and taking deep breaths to try to calm down, she reached a decision. She took the mask off her face and extended her hand. "I'm Laurel. Laurel Lance. And if you want to, my friend owns a club right around the corner. We could go there, talk some more." 

The woman first looked at her surprised but then took her hand and nodded.

"I'm Joss. Joss Carver. And I would like that."


End file.
